Bradford really had "it" today

Bradford threw 2 near picks. The first I wasn't quick enough getting the ball out and basicly waited until the WR was covered. On the second he makes a insane throw into double coverage... missed a wide open Brandon Gibson down the sideline (As Mike Martz said, that ball should be in front of the receiver, not make him come back to the CB and over his head.)
On 4. down with the game on the line he misfires to an open Pettis, who has to make a circus catch to keep the drive alive.

It was the WRs that stepped up on the last drive (Brandon Gibson in particular), not the QB. And be stepping up I mean they played like NFL WRs. They sure didn't in the first half.

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Originally Posted by emuen

Bradford threw 2 near picks. The first I wasn't quick enough getting the ball out and basicly waited until the WR was covered. On the second he makes a insane throw into double coverage... missed a wide open Brandon Gibson down the sideline (As Mike Martz said, that ball should be in front of the receiver, not make him come back to the CB and over his head.)
On 4. down with the game on the line he misfires to an open Pettis, who has to make a circus catch to keep the drive alive.

It was the WRs that stepped up on the last drive (Brandon Gibson in particular), not the QB. And be stepping up I mean they played like NFL WRs. They sure didn't in the first half.

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So Sam gets no credit whatsoever for brushing off his mistakes, standing in the pocket despite a strong pass rush, and making the necessary plays to win the game?

Thank you for proving my point.

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Originally Posted by evil disco man

I can only imagine how good Sam will be when the Rams have good WRs.

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wow, did you watch the game? really?

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Originally Posted by evil disco man

I can only imagine how good Sam will be when the Rams have good WRs.

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Yesterday, his WR's bailed him out. Bradford got it done with a lot of help from Pettis and Gibson, along with DB Wilson dropping two EASY INT's that reminded me of Bartell-Fletcher-Dahl etc in terms of not being able to catch an easy int.

I admire Bradford's guts to get through a pretty poor performance and still WIN. That's all I want from any Rams' QB and he got it done, regardless of how not-so-pretty it was.

I am so glad that we won of course.....sam has delivered when it counted. But, i saw plenty of culpability to be spread around with our ever so anemic offense....overthrows, underthrows and WR's that just cannot get separation. We will get the Wr's we need to be better and Sam needs to be more consistent on his end to help the team realize its potential......I believe both will take place....

The Rams need an influx of talent on the O line and the receiving corps to reach the next level as an offense. Nobody is questioning that.

But, in terms of "building from within," the Rams made great progress yesterday by proving to themselves that they can shake off a bad 3 1/2 quarters and find a way to win a game on the road.

The next time the Rams find themselves in a similar situation, Sam Bradford will know that he's done it before, and can do it again.

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Originally Posted by AvengerRam

The Rams need an influx of talent on the O line and the receiving corps to reach the next level as an offense. Nobody is questioning that.

But, in terms of "building from within," the Rams made great progress yesterday by proving to themselves that they can shake off a bad 3 1/2 quarters and find a way to win a game on the road.

The next time the Rams find themselves in a similar situation, Sam Bradford will know that he's done it before, and can do it again.

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I think to sum it up, The old Rams (last 5 years) would have lost this game. But we found a way.

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Originally Posted by AvengerRam

So Sam gets no credit whatsoever for brushing off his mistakes, standing in the pocket despite a strong pass rush, and making the necessary plays to win the game?

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He should get credit for making a game winning drive. He should. I might have come across more negative then intended. If you had said "Good job by Bradford, to stand in the pocket and make the plays it took to win" I would agree.
However saying that he had "it", based on that drive, is pushing it! He throws 2 "should have been picks" and on 4th down he throws behind his receiver.

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Originally Posted by AvengerRam

Thank you for proving my point.

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A point I'm trying to make is: Pettis makes a hard catch behind him to keep the drive alive and Gibson runs wild in the Bills secondary with the game on the line. The receivers stepped up more then Bradford did. Would you say that Gibson and Pettis has "it"?
I wouldn't, but they played good on that last drive.

The receivers made some good plays, but Bradford did too.

Probably the most impressive play was the 3rd and 10 he converted with a pass to Gibson right before the TD. If you watch the replay, the pocket was collapsing around Bradford, but he ignored the pressure, and made a great throw into a tight window to keep the drive going.

I would equate Bradford's peformance to a guy who strikes out his first three at bats, then comes up in the 9th with 2 men on and gets a hit to drive in the winning run. He didn't do it all day, and he didn't do it alone, but he came through when he had to.

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Originally Posted by AtlantaRamFan

Bradford sure does look like a different QB when the game is on the line. It's better than looking good the whole game, then sputtering when it's on the line.

With that said, Bradford needs to send a gift basket to that Buffalo defensive player who dropped not one, but two game-ending interceptions. Then he should take Pettis out to dinner for that very difficult catch on 4th down that Bradford threw behind him.

If any of those plays go differently, we're having a whole different conversation in this thread. Rams won today because of Bradford's "it" and bit of luck as well.

(NOT a criticism of Bradford at all, I thought he did a fantastic job when the game was on the line. Just saying he had a little help too.)

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ESPECIALLY THIS: "With that said, Bradford needs to send a gift basket to that Buffalo defensive player who dropped not one, but two game-ending interceptions. Then he should take Pettis out to dinner for that very difficult catch on 4th down that Bradford threw behind him."
Sooo. We beat a loser. The Bills. We ONLY scored 2 touchdowns but thank goodness we have a defense that makes a low scoring victory possible.

Bradford might have thrown two near-ints on the last drive, but the key word is "near". They weren't picks. They were incomplete passes.
As for Gibson and Pettis stepping up to help Bradford out... ABOUT TIME

I see Bradford getting criticised for some inaccurate throws, and the WRs getting credit for helping him out, but at the same time that long ball to Chris Givens in triple coverage hit Givens in the hands. That should be a catch in the NFL. Bradford often hits his guys in the hands only to see the ball clang to the ground.

Some people seem to be ignoring the big completions that were well thrown, especially the TD and the 2 pointer

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Originally Posted by tomahawk247

Bradford might have thrown two near-ints on the last drive, but the key word is "near". They weren't picks. They were incomplete passes.

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Sometimes the difference between an interception and a near-interception is the difference between winning the Super Bowl (and being named MVP) and potentially losing the game on a pick-6. Just ask Terry Bradshaw and Nolan Cromwell.

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Originally Posted by Rambos

LT Rodger Saffold couldn't finish because of a nagging back injury. .. you are correct sir,

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GroundChuck watched the game again and the good news is Rodger Saffold did play on the final drive.

I actually felt comfortable being down a score late in the fourth on Sunday. It's almost preferred for me now, because for some reason we always seem to turn it on in those scenarios.

Kudos for the team effort to get into the endzone. We can all agree on that right? There's no need to turn this conversation into one of "who failed, who bailed".

I know this will sound like an excuse. Martz brought up that fact that when talking with Ryan Fitzpatrick before the game, he said the stadium has some really tough winds when throwing to the visitors sideline. Martz referenced this about three times during the game. That and the conditions not being not ideal... extra point fumbled, snap on the punt fumbled, Fitzpatrick had a fumble on a pass.

That said play condition and Bradford did, with the game was on the line he drove the team, with many players making plays to win that game.

SJ had nice runs... Kendricks made a nice catch, Pettis had the circus catch, Gibson made two big catches and Givens catches the conversion.

The Bills play there and they had problems executing in those conditions. That game had ugly on it before the first play.

Bradford may not do a lot of things great but he is accurate and he wasn't yesterday, I think it's safe to say why.

What we learned is next year we need home field in the dome!